Latin America and the Caribbean implement the Belém Action Plan on Gender

The Belém Gender Action Plan (GAP III) marks a turning point in integrating gender equality into global climate action. Adopted at the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), this new framework not only consolidates previous progress but also ushers in a more ambitious, operational, and implementation-oriented phase, with a nine-year timeframe (2026–2034).

To analyze its main features, the opportunities it opens for the region, and the pathways for implementation from the territories, a regional webinar was held, organized by the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC), UN Women, and UNDP, with the participation of the gender focal points of the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. The event brought together nearly 200 participants, including representatives from governments, academia, and civil society from 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Belém: a turning point for the gender and climate agenda

COP30 in Belém marked a milestone in integrating gender equality into global climate action. Beyond the inherent complexities of the negotiation process, the Conference underscored the need for an effective climate response that substantively incorporates women’s voices, knowledge, and leadership.

In this regard, Lorena Lamas, Regional Specialist on Gender, Environment and Climate Justice at UN Women, underscored that Latin America and the Caribbean played a central role in achieving this progress. She stated: “Our region brought forward concrete, coordinated, and ambitious proposals. Negotiators, experts, and civil society representatives not only defended the gender agenda; they expanded it, making it more robust, more demanding, and closer to the realities of our territories.”

An ambitious, operational plan with a long-term horizon

GAP III provides a strategic roadmap for the period 2026–2034, with 27 actions and more than 100 deliverables to translate political agreements into concrete changes implemented at the international, national, and local levels. Guillermina Martín, UNDP Regional Gender Lead, highlighted the need to be realistic while maintaining a hopeful, forward-looking vision: “The GAP presents a strategic framework designed to turn long nights of negotiation into implementable commitments, in which AILAC has played a key leadership role.”

The Plan also strengthens its alignment with other international frameworks, such as the other Rio Conventions and the Escazú Agreement. It advances the integration of intersectional, human rights, health, and care approaches, recognizing that the impacts of climate change exacerbate pre-existing structural inequalities.

Latin America and the Caribbean: political leadership and a vision of climate justice

From the region, a clear message was reaffirmed: gender equality and climate change are not parallel agendas, but interdependent dimensions of a single, comprehensive response. In this vein, Camila Muñoz, representative of the AILAC Presidency for Colombia, noted: “For our region, talking about climate change and gender equality means addressing two pillars of the same architecture of climate justice. Transitions will only be just if they acknowledge historical inequalities, transform structures that limit women’s economic autonomy, and guarantee their participation in the sectors where productive and energy decisions are made.”

Along the same lines, Bruna Veríssimo, Brazil’s Gender and Climate Change Focal Point, emphasized the value of explicitly recognizing the diversity of women and their different realities, as well as the importance of coordinated regional work to advance complex and emerging issues.

From global commitment to national implementation

One of the central axes of the dialogue was how to operationalize GAP III in national contexts. While the Plan is adopted within the framework of international negotiations, the implementation of several actions will need to be defined and adapted at the country level, taking into account capacities, priorities, and territorial realities. Representatives from countries and civil society agreed on the importance of striking a balance between ambition and feasibility, avoiding backsliding on already agreed language, such as the use of data disaggregated by gender and age, not only by sex, and ensuring means of implementation that include not only financing, but also capacity-building and technology transfer.

From civil society, Dominican lawyer and activist Claudia Rubio from WEDO recalled the key role these actors play as a bridge between territories and decision-making spaces: “We bring the voices of those who experience climate change on the front lines, of those who rarely have access to negotiation rooms; we monitor and demand accountability, and we preserve institutional memory so that progress is not lost with each new political cycle.”

Synergies between the Belém Gender Action Plan and other normative frameworks

GAP III aligns with a broader evolution in international environmental governance, intensifying cooperation between the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In this context, the Plan integrates a shared vision that articulates the interconnections among the Rio Conventions’ agendas on gender, climate change, biodiversity, and desertification. It also opens opportunities to advance key issues such as sexual and reproductive rights, violence against women and girls, the protection of environmental human rights defenders, and the recognition of care work in the context of climate change, at a time marked by global setbacks in the rights agenda. This coherence across frameworks is particularly relevant for processes such as the implementation of the Regional Agreement of Escazú, which is currently discussing how to strengthen its gender approach.

Upcoming milestones and opportunities for the region

The Belém Gender Action Plan translates political commitment on gender and climate change into an implementation roadmap for the period 2026–2034, defining actions, responsibilities, (SBI). It establishes clear milestones for implementation and accountability. (SBI). It establishes clear milestones for implementation and accountability.

Throughout this cycle, actions will be accompanied by verifiable results, including dialogues, capacity-building processes, technical workshops, exchange spaces, outreach and awareness-raising strategies, national and sectoral coordination mechanisms, resource mobilization, and specific submissions.

A strategic moment of GAP III will be the midterm review, to be conducted jointly with the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender (ELWPG). This process will begin at SBI 70 (June 2029) and conclude at SBI 71 (November 2029), with a decision expected at COP34 (November 2029). The review will assess progress under the Plan and analyze its second phase of implementation, incorporating inputs submitted by States and other key stakeholders during this period. This timeline opens a strategic window for Latin America and the Caribbean to showcase progress, share lessons learned, and continue positioning a gender-responsive climate action that leaves no one behind. As summarized during the webinar by Marleny Oliva, Gender and Climate Change Focal Point of Guatemala: “Gender-responsive climate action turns urgency into hope and hope into results.”

Watch the full webinar recording at the following link: link

Learn more about UN Women’s work on Gender, Environment, and Climate Justice: link